"I could help you with that."

Jeongin (5)

"Seungmin what else do you do other than work?"

I had just locked our front door behind the last customer before grabbing a broom and sweeping the lobby floors. Seungmin was organizing and cleaning the deli case as I asked him my question. Once it left my mouth however, I realized how direct it was.

"I mean... sorry if that's a personal ask..."

He looked up at me over the case before he spoke, "No you're ok. I know about you and your life. I don't mind telling you about mine." He closed the door of the case and started to wipe down the top of it.

"I don't do much outside of work either. I'm finishing up school and help out around my home." He moved on to wiping down the payment counter while I bent down to sweep the dust and food debris into my dustpan. "I also like to sing."

I turned to him after I threw the contents of my pan into the trash. Seungmin liked to sing?

"You do?" I had no idea. I would hear him sing to himself sometimes, but a lot of people did that casually. Maybe to him it meant more?

"Yeah. There's this band I like listening to, they really inspire me. It started out with humming along to different songs. Then I tried singing them myself." I walked behind the counter to grab a paper towel roll and spray bottle as he started to reorganize the equipment on the back counters.

"It made me realize that singing was interesting. How you could manipulate the tone of your voice by opening up your throat and controlling your air flow. How you could sing in the low register but then hit high notes in the same breath. How to even sustain those notes." I had stood next to him, listening while he spoke. I don't think I've ever had an in depth conversation with him like this. It was different.

"I practice singing in my room sometimes. My sister gets annoyed with me while my parents say they love my voice." He had a sister too? Wow, I'm learning a lot about him right now.

I was just about to ask him another question when a knock at the door startled us both. I turned around and saw Hyunjin waving at us through the glass.

I sighed and walked to the door to let him in. "You're a little late tonight. You scared us both." He snickered as he walked past me, patting me on the head. "Sorry, got caught up on the way here. Didn't mean to make you jump."

I locked the door back as he walked to his booth, throwing his duffel bag on the table and pulling out his phone as he sat down. I huffed as I walked back to Seungmin who was already starting to clean the back floors.

I spoke softly, "So Seungmin... what kind of songs do you like to sing?" He glanced over at me with a smile. "I like slower paced songs. But there is one English pop song that's been stuck in my head recently." The question practically tumbled out of my mouth.

"Can I hear you sing it?"

He looked at me puzzled. God why did I say that to him? I just found out about his hobby and I immediately ask him to demonstrate it. Good job Jeongin.

"Sorry... again. You don't have to, I shouldn't have asked you that..." I averted my eyes and started to wipe down one of the slicers.

"No it's... ok. I could sing you the chorus of it?" I glanced up at him, almost embarrassed. I nodded slightly.

He straightened his posture and cleared his throat. He took a breath and began to sing in a language I didn't understand.

He seemed hesitant at first, but the longer he sang the more comfortable he got. His voice was smooth and every word he said was very clear. What he was saying I couldn't tell you. He even closed his eyes and really got into it. I was awestruck. He sounded great.